A Virtual Journey
by MarioFireRed
Summary: An avid gamer who stayed up all night playing Elsword, Mario finds the game so addicting and fun he never wants to leave it. One night Mario got his wish, but was it more than what he bargained for? And how will he get out of this new world? Rated T for some swearing.
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, Elsword belongs to KoG Studios and Kill3r Kombo**

Oh yeah, all Elsword classes (when they get introduced) will be base for now. This is also my very first fanfic, enjoy!

_Chapter 1: Awakening_

* * *

My name is Mario, at least that's what everyone keeps calling me anyway. I was sitting down on my computer playing Elsword for what seemed like hours when I noticed the time. _Three A.M!?_ I thought. _Man this game is addicting, but just one more dungeon!_ I thought forcibly. _I might as well finish this last quest_.

I yawned rather quietly as my half-closed eyes stared at my computer screen. The level 35 Sword Knight on my screen, also known as my avatar, took a pit stop by Amos, the Alchemist in Altera, to stock up on blessed and mana potions, much to the chagrin of my already full party: an impatient level 38 Over Taker, a bossy and annoying level 34 Fury Guardian, and our leader a level 40 Lord Knight.

"C'mon Mario quit wasting our time and hurry up already!" Blue letters flashed on my chat window as the Over Taker, OneArm, typed in.

"YEAH BRAH!" The bratty Fury Guardian, appropriately named 1337Gam3r, typed in all caps.

"Alright, alright I'm coming." I slowly typed, man these guys need a chill pill. I would've ditched this party already if our (actually) patient leader, the Lord Knight named Dragon, weren't in it. Dragon typed something in, but I couldn't remember as my sleep-deprived mind focused on my avatar, spiraling down the steps as I moved the arrow keys and then to the right into Altera Island, the dungeon lobby. I met up with said party by the bulletin board, all of them annoyingly in the sitting position.

Noticing my presence, Dragon was the first to stand up and then OneArm. Gam3r was still sitting, making me believe he was inactive. _That idiot! And after telling ME to hurry up!_

"So are we still heading out to Altera Core?" I typed in the party chat, hoping for a positive response. At this rate I expected to fall asleep on my keyboard at any time. Thankfully I was ready for this, using my white ear buds and the in-game music to keep myself awake. I waited patiently as the other two, probably as tired as I am, typed in their responses.

"Yeah, is everyone ready?" Dragon asked. I wished he didn't though, everyone's avatar has the READY sign activated.

"Mhm." Was all OneArm and I managed to type without wasting too much energy before the dungeon. Neither of us bothered to tell Dragon about Gamer's idle status. Dragon seemed satisfied with the response, who started up the dungeon.

Unfortunately at that moment, I nearly succumbed to sleep at that point, closing the game client just before I finally entered into a deep slumber. My brain's too fried at that point to even think about how I felt, sleeping on the keyboard and potentially drooling all over it as I continued further and further into a deeper sleep. I tried with all my might to jerk myself awake to move over to my comfortable bed. No matter how much I tried however, I stayed fast asleep, my mind finally accepting the inevitable.

* * *

_Man its chilly today._ I thought to myself, rubbing my hands against my arms for warmth. _It's also kind of windy too, I must've kept my fan on overnight. And…what's this!? _I started to notice. _It's getting really hard to breathe and…I feel like I'm…_! I easily jerked myself awake, only to find myself wishing I hadn't.

"FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL IIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGG GGGGGG!" I screamed, finding myself suddenly about 300 feet in the air! _I'm gonna die! I'm gonna_ _die_! That simple thought raced and repeated itself rapidly inside my mind as I scramble my limbs, hoping to find a less threatening position to land in, while at the same time trying to figure out where I'm exactly landing.

There wasn't much time to think about it but I know I'm not anywhere near my house, let alone the same universe. The sky looked cleaner and a lot less polluted than the smoke-filled clouds swallowing up the air back home. There wasn't any kind of industrialization happening near my surroundings as opposed to the littered factories stealing every acre of land. And finally, the most significant change, there only appeared to be a speck of about 4 houses in walking distance from where I'm landing in the middle of a forest!

Thankfully I safely landed on a bush as I finally reached ground level, saving my body from any major injuries, with any a few bruises from where I landed limbs first. _That's strange._ I thought, holding my injured left arm for support, _I could've sworn that I also hit-_ "Hey that hurt you know!" I froze and turned my head to the direction of the feminine voice.

_She's really beautiful…_ My young 16-year-old mind thought as I gazed into her beauty. A girl who looked the same age as I did, but with long flowing blond hair, a green blouse with some assets, a white miniskirt and boots, black finger less gloves with silver armbands, and a green majestic bow that must've felt really light to carry. She seemed familiar, as she rubbed her head with one of her eyes closed in pain. "Who do you think you are kid, hurting your elders?" She questioned in an angry tone.

I felt taken aback by this, a girl as young as her calling me a kid? _Wait is this…_ I thought with a frightening thought in my mind. "Tell me miss, what's your name?"

"How rude." The girl barked back, still in that angered tone of hers. "Asking a woman to introduce herself before the gentleman isn't very good is it?"

_What time period does this chick think we live in? _I thought to myself, yet complied to follow her advice of anguish. "Fine I'm Ma-" I felt her glove covering my mouth and her other hand pushing my head down below the bush. _It's so warm._

"Be quiet they're coming!" The girl put a finger on her hushed lips as she whispered, her serious eyes glaring at me to obey.

"Who is?" But my question was already answered as three people came into view outside the bush, all of them wearing bandanas. One of them was really big and muscular, he looked a lot like one of the bosses I fought against in Elsword but I forgot his name, and was obviously the leader of the three.

"Alright I'll remind you two of the plan one more time so we're clear." The leader announced loudly, it's like he's begging to get caught.

"Ok boss!" One of the two little ones replied, this one was bald unlike the other full headed grunt. _I'm calling this one Baldy and the other Hairy._ I thought amusingly.

"Remember you two are nabbing the El in Ruben village. Once you get out drop the larger of the two El shards by that tree." The leader pointed his meaty finger by the second closest tree to that nearby village. "Then while anyone from the Ruben search party is chasing you two, I'll bring the El shard back to the hideout. We're guaranteed to steal at least one of the two shards today!" He celebrated.

"Alright let's move out!" Hairy moved toward the village in action, Baldy repeating what Hairy said and following suit. Meanwhile the big leader went to his desired hiding place, far away from where the girl and I could see.

_What the hell? Ruben village? The El? This is starting to sound a lot like…_ I gasped silently. I figured heading over to stop them when I noticed the girl was still next to me, listening to the conversation. I almost forgot to introduce myself to her, though if her name is what I think it is, I'm screwed. "I'm M-M-Mario." I managed to stutter from my panicked mind. "What's your n-n-name?"

"It's Rena, nice to meet you." She smiled sweetly for a split second, turning into confusion after noticed my horrified face. "What's wrong? Are you feeling ok? Look we need to stop these guys from stealing the El and-"

"Th-This isn't real." I whispered almost desperately. "This really isn't happening! I-I always knew this game was addicting but…this…I…" My mind was in a race of thoughts, the sound of desperation growing with each passing word. _I'm stuck inside Elsword! But how!?_

"I need to get you to a doctor qui-"

"NO I'M FINE!" I begged her to listen. "Listen…" I calmed myself down then started again. "I need you to believe me on this." I started to tell her what happened. How I'm just an ordinary human who spends his time playing video games. How, after spending almost a full night playing the game, I found myself trapped inside for no clear reason. And explaining how I know these Elsword terms.

"I see." Rena closed her eyes and thought. Its times like this I'm glad the game programmed Rena as the mediator of the characters, the patient mentor who uses encouraging words and skills to teach their student, rather than flaring up into a frenzy or blabbing nonsense. "Well in any case that's one more thing we have in our agendas. We need to protect the El from being stolen and find a way to bring you back to your world."

"Thank you." I thanked Rena for her help. However I must've told her too much information because as we headed out for Ruben to protect the El, said El was already stolen courtesy of a woman NPC's scream of terror. _Damn it! That big guy must've gotten the 2__nd__ El shard by now!_

Rena had the same thoughts as I had. "Tch." She scowled. "We're just gonna have to go after those two bandits then." She hurriedly looked around our location and handed me a thin stick, she must have found it laying around near the trees behind us.

_This is supposed to be my weapon!?_ I thought bewildered. Sadly, my thoughts turned out to be true as Rena motioned me to follow her to where the bandits trekked.

"Aha! Found you Bandits!" Out of nowhere a red-haired kid holding a huge sword, or rather a club, for his size kicked Baldy square in the face, causing him to fall backwards. _Wait a minute I know who this is!_ I thought to myself.

"Damn kid, who the hell are you?" Hairy demanded, pulling out his blade. _Those two and Rena don't know it yet, but I know his name. It's gotta be…_


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting

_Chapter 2: Meeting_

* * *

"My name's Elsword!" The red-haired kid introduced with a smirk, placing his sword over the shoulder. "You grown-ups better not underestimate me, I'm from the Ruben search party!" He gloated. "Now hand over the El or else!" Elsword definitely looked like he came from the search party. As Rena pointed out to me, Elsword wore a traditional search party uniform: a red long sleeve shirt with silver armbands and finger-less black and red gloves, gray and white shorts (amusingly held up by a ridiculously large belt for his size), and steel-gray shoes with black socks. Elsword seemed fond of buttons, there were buttons in the middle of the chest area on his shirt, two buttons each on his two gloves, and two more buttons on his shorts. Hell even his sword has a few buttons on the cross-guard (area between the grip and the blade).

_For a kid he's pretty overconfident._ I thought with a "not impressed" look on my face. I glanced over to Rena, who was giggling silently to herself. _Figures. Seeing kids act all macho isn't something you see every day if you're a member of a humble elven race._ "What do you suggest we do now Rena?" I quietly whispered into her ear. Outside the bush Hairy struggled to keep up with Elsword's movements as the latter circled around him, dishing out quick slashes to his left arm, back, and right hand, in that order.

"Why not just watch him first." Rena answered. "After all, you still need to find a proper weapon to use." She smiled at that last sentence looking at me, a very annoyed expression on my face. _Hurts to say it but she's right. I still need to get back to my world, and I need a weapon to do so. _So we both silently watched Elsword's movements, careful not to rustle the bush to alert our presence.

Elsword was dominating both of the bandits easily, wielding the huge sword one-handed to further boost his arrogant ego as if his red flaming hair isn't big enough. Baldy and Hairy, the latter bleeding from the aforementioned slashes by Elsword, are outmatched, slashing the air desperately with wide slow slashes to dish out some damage. "What's wrong bandits, tired already?" Elsword taunted. He rolled across the grassy terrain behind the two, exchanging the sword to his left hand after landing, and started turning left and smirked as he watched the horrified faces the two were wearing. "MEGA SLASH!" Elsword called out as a battle cry. Being a current Elsword player, or a former one depending how you look at my situation right now, I know exactly what Mega Slash does: one giant horizontal slash at the target…that's it.

_Hardly surprising considering the result._ I thought to myself after that Mega Slash attack. The two bandits lay there on the ground, bleeding profusely as Hairy dropped a bag he was carrying, the one containing the El. "Just one of the shards huh." I heard Elsword mutter disappointed. He grabbed Baldy, the only one still conscious, by the collar and glared a death stare right into his eyes. "Where the hell is the other shard?" Elsword angrily asked him.

"W-W-Why should I tell y-you- OW!" Elsword head-butted Baldy after two seconds of response.

"Don't screw with me! Where the hell is it?" Elsword got angrier and more impatient as time ticked by. I almost felt sorry for poor Baldy…**almost**. I just wish Rena and I could find a way to peacefully chat with him without being accused as their partners in crime.

A giant howl screeched through the air at that moment, and the two bandits slowly dragged themselves away from the noise. Elsword let them go, more worried about the creature howling in the middle of the forest, let alone in the middle of the day. Suddenly this gigantic wolf-like creature swiftly appeared in front of Elsword, using his huge snapping fingers to snatch the El right out of his hand. Even though I already knew who this wolf-like creature is I couldn't stop shivering, he's way more intimidating in person than some pixellated graphics on a computer screen made to look scary.

_Berthe!_ I played the tutorial and already knew what happened next, but this was a different version than the real game. Just like me, I could feel Rena trembling a bit at the sight of such a creature. _If only I can warn her and Elsword about him. _A huge creature in the shape of a gigantic mutated wolf, Berthe was mainly dark blue from top to bottom with white tuffs of fur(?) on his shoulders. I thought as I could do nothing but watch the situation unfold.

"Oh how cute, a kid playing Adventure." Berthe growled humorously, although that chilling tone of his makes it sound frightening. "I guess this must mean I'm the bad guy in this scenario huh?"

"Shut up!" Elsword got tired of being treated as a kid. "I'm Elsword from the Ruben search party, now give that back or I'll have to beat the crap out of you!" He pointed to the El Berthe was holding, the size of the object paled in comparison to the creature, who held the El like it was a cookie crumb.

"How boring, guess I'll have to teach you a lesson." Berthe held the El in an icy blue aura, using his chest as a placeholder for the crystal. "Now if you can knock me over once, the El is yours." He got into all fours, presumably a fighting stance. I honestly had no idea if this was the case or not, the tutorial lasted two minutes at most.

"Tch, you'll be sorry you called me a bratty little kid!" Elsword yelled, brushing the sword on the grass to his right as he dashed towards blue monster. He gripped the sword with both hands and dealt multiple heavy horizontal slashes to Berthe's front right leg, however he wasn't the least bit phased by it. After the 5th or so slash, Elsword backed off expecting a counterattack by Berthe which never came. "Oh yeah…well how…about…this!" He rolled behind Berthe, panting from the previous assault and used the same trick I saw against the bandits, fully expecting what happens next. "MEGA SLASH!" He yelled with greater power this time, bring the full force of the sword sideways on Berthe's rear left leg. Breathing hard, Elsword propped his sword to the ground to support himself up. I could see that all his attacks were to no avail against the powerful demon, as Rena described it. _Damn this isn't well for him._ I thought to myself. I was seriously considering throwing the stick I'm holding straight at one of Berthe's glowing blue eyes just to give Elsword even the slightest edge, but with Rena here I can't just do a hit-and-run tactic and so sat here at this bush waiting.

"If that's your best shot, this isn't even a fight." Berthe complained, yawning. I noticed Elsword's angered expression at that comment, firing off Mega Slashes one after another in an attempt to at least injure the demon. It gave me a sense of déjà vu, the bandits trying desperately to hit Elsword as he curb-stomped them effortlessly and the same desperation present in Elsword's dulling red eyes as he swung again and again to no effort. "I'm getting bored now." Berthe decided, preparing an attack. He turned in a 180 fashion facing the miniscule Elsword as he reared up. Elsword, also Rena and I, stood his ground preparing to defend himself from the incoming attack. Instead, however, Berthe howled right at Elsword's face, picking up the red swordsman and soaring him backwards towards an incoming tree…a hard incoming tree.

The amount of wind generated by that howl kept me from witnessing anything beyond that point as I shielded my eyes and gripped the grass below to keep from flying. Under the deafening wind, I heard a faint crack coming from a tree a mile ahead. As I heard it Berthe, as though he was satisfied enough, stopped howling and took a good look at his fine work while Rena and I did the same. The whole forest within a 3 mile radius in front of the demon looked like a huge mess of tangled grass-like hair, trees everywhere within the vicinity blown to pieces or knocked clean off their stumps at best.

One gigantic tree, however, stayed in its place and in front of it, an unconscious red-haired kid. "Elsword!" Rena whispered, fear in her eyes once it looked like he was out for the count. _Like that'll ever happen. _I thought. _He's the main character, of course he'll turn out okay._ As if my thoughts are granted by a godlike being from above, Elsword slowly regained consciousness looking in somewhat bad shape.

"You amuse me kid, a normal person would've wised up and stayed dead. I guess I'll just-"

"LIGHTNING BOLT!" A quick flash of lightning raced across the air for all four of us to see as a female voice yelled out, _almost like a spell. _The thin bolt dashed through the air towards its target, Berthe. Unlike Elsword's attacks, this managed to inflict pain on the demon, comically having flashes of his bones shown as he gets electrocuted and falling on his back after the attack was over, dropping the El. Seeing his chance, Elsword tries his best to dash after the El, but stumbled over every step he takes. Confident now that Elsword and whoever cast the lightning were friendly, I ran out of the bush with Rena in tow.

The look on Elsword's face as it changes from relieved to retrieve the El to horror as he sees us two running towards him to anger as he takes a fighting stance. "Who the hell are you?" He panted out, fighting to keep himself from looking weak. "I'm not…letting the…El…get away." It's no use. No matter how hard he tries, he's taken a big blow from the tree to even stand and collapsed.

"Heh what a coward!" Berthe stood back up immediately, showing minor injuries. _From a direct hit like that!?_ "I guess you needed some company to back you up as you try heroically to beat me by yourself. Oh well a deal's a deal." He picked up the El and placed it in my hands, Rena's occupying Elsword while the latter lay battered. For some reason, Berthe was staring at me strangely, or at least his eyes were wider than they were before. "You don't seem to come from here are you?" He asked me strangely. _Oh and you aren't you big freak!_

"The hell you mean by that?" I asked, trying to keep my legs from shaking.

Berthe noticed. "Aw did I make you go in your pants?" He joked.

_Shut it!_ Was what I wanted to say to him, instead I gave him a hard stare for being right. I didn't even use the bathroom when I was still at home and now all this…

Berthe continued from his earlier statement. "Well I guess one of my henchmen must've sent you here." He calmly said to me.

The sound of planes crashing, trains wrecking, and Nokia phones raining down the sky raced around my brain as I heard his answer. "…What do you mean one of your henchmen…? I started sweating a bit.

"One of my Glitter monsters must've fondled with the demon portal I set up back home. Must've been the one who accidentally sent you here."

"Does that mean I could be a de-"

"Oh no, it's a mistake on his part. Although this can turn out handy…" Berthe started grinning. "Maybe if you could defeat me then I can send you back home."

_Is he serious!?_ "What do you mean by defeating you?"

"Exactly what I mean, you could even bring these two kids to help you." He glanced to Rena and Elsword, the former glaring angrily at Berthe. _Well she does look in her early twenties._

"Wait a minute, what do you gain from this!?" I asked. It's so cliché it's guaranteed to blow up in his face later on.

"A fun challenge." He answered. "Now I'll be waiting at Feita, in the Altar of Dedication. See you then." He raced out in an instant.

_Feita?_ _Altar of Dedication?_ Must be one of the dungeons in the game, but I haven't even gotten that far yet! Suddenly I remembered my bladder and rushed to the nearest still standing tree. I started to unzip my pants when…

"WTF GET OUT!" Someone pushed me right out of the tree, forcing me to go to the other one. After finally relieving myself, I look back at the flustered tsundere.

Knowing I'm in the game, I easily deducted that the tsundere is Aisha. Her short purple hair, purple sushi-like pom poms, a white flower-like collar on her long sleeved purple dress (also like a flower), a belt like Elsword's that's way too big on her, white knee-high socks, and brown shoes. Her pink purplish staff reminds me that she's the designated magician of the game, a smarty blabber mouth who's also quite immature for her age. _Can't believe she's a year younger than me though._

"Now e-explain yourself!" Aisha's face turned bright red and she was quivering for a bit. _A typical tsundere…a cute tsundere…_

"Well y-you see we just-"

"NO EXCUSES!" She raised her staff, prompting me to make a run for it. "LIGHTNING BO-"

"CUT IT OUT YOU TWO!" Rena's voice suddenly sound more masculine and demonic sounding. Aisha and I shook at her tone.

"Who a-are you m-miss?" Aisha felt too scared to ask.

"I'll explain later. Can you two- ugh." Rena grunted as she tried picking up Elsword.

"Oh we gotta get him back to Ruben!" Aisha was suddenly worried about the kid. I wonder if she has feelings for him.

But there was no time to waste. "Here I'll carry him, where's Ruben?" Rena complied and handed me Elsword. I held him as if I was giving him a piggy back ride. Rena shouted directions to Ruben while I carried the unconscious kid. All this time, however, I never noticed how worried Aisha looked at his limp body.


	3. Chapter 3: The Way of the Hand and Foot

_Chapter 3: The Way of the Hand and Foot_

I placed my hands on my knees gasping for breath once we reached the local inn at Ruben, who knew a kid could weigh that much. _Your typical starting town._ I thought, gazing around Ruben.

The village was home to about 10 houses at most and only three people were out and about. Going about a week back since I played Elsword, I can only remember the brown-haired, moustache, and beard Santa wannabe Hagus, the chief of the village. There was a determined looking man around his mid-20s wearing the same uniform as Elsword commanding other people wearing the red-clad uniform to continue whacking wooden dummies with their swords. _He's probably the one in charge of the Ruben search party, Elsword's superior perhaps?_ Upon seeing us enter the inn from the corner of his right eye, he shouted for the other search party members to continue whacking the dummies and ran straight to Hagus's house, the placeholder for the inn.

"Private Elsword wake up!" The man shouted at his face, much to Aisha's anger, and violently shook him repeatedly.

"Now, now, knock it off Lowe." Hagus nervously butted in. "Yelling at him won't make him feel better."

"All the other recruits at the camp finished their first assignments with minor injuries!" Lowe angrily shouted. "We give this runt," He points at Elsword, "a clean-up job to protect the El from two puny bandits and comes here looking like that!" He glared at Elsword's injuries: several cuts running all through his body from Berthe's howl and several long white bandages across his torso and back from the impact against that huge tree from earlier, which Rena concluded as the (near empty) Tree of El. Lowe gave up arguing and sat on the wooden floor defeated. I could tell from Aisha's facial expression the many ways she could think of to electrify and burn the commander as she sat beside Elsword, clenching her staff horizontally.

_That's weird. Doesn't Aisha normally hate Elsword?_ I thought, confused. _Maybe Elsword being unconscious and myself being here made things different for this timeline. I mean she arrived after Elsword was knocked out and was concerned for a kid, not a bratty half-pint that is the hero._ I mildly racked my brain at this, glancing my eyes between Aisha and Elsword. I noticed Rena was helping the temporarily innkeeper, a pink haired woman in her early 20s and caring blue eyes, soaking the towels the latter brought on some hot water. While she soaked the towels, the innkeeper prepared more bandages for Elsword's cuts.

"If Elsa didn't disappear, we wouldn't need this rotten runt!" Lowe angrily exclaimed suddenly. The saddened expressions on Hagus and the innkeeper's face as the latter dropped the bandages felt like a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in the room. As expected, Rena, Aisha, and I were confused at this.

"Who's…El…sa?" I asked Lowe, still panting from the events that happened to me thus far.

Lowe answered in a melancholic tone: "She was the greatest captain the Red Knights ever had." Hagus and the innkeeper slowly nodded in agreement. _The Red Knights?_ I thought. _Must be the group Lowe and Elsword are in._ "She had long braided flame-red hair and a burning passionate heart. Elsa was a kind yet strict leader, expecting the best from her fellow members. The best in what she does, Elsa accepted a SSS ranked mission a year ago and still hasn't returned." He took something out of his back pocket, a white envelope, and raised it for everyone to see. "She left us this letter about a month ago, around the time Elsword joined us." Looking at Hagus for permission, who nodded, Lowe opened the already unsealed envelope and read the bland white paper aloud.

_To Lowe,_

_ I write this letter in hopes that you won't forget me. The mission was harder than I originally thought, therefore my return may be delayed to an unknown date. You were always playing second banana to me Lowe, I want you to head the Red Knights until my return. In addition, consider this my last request, there will be a young boy with flame-red hair such as myself demanding to join in order to get stronger. I want you to let him join in hopes that his dream of surpassing me becomes a reality. His name is Elsword, my younger brother. Good luck Lowe, and wish that kid some luck as well._

_Elsa_

I sat astonished, Rena and Aisha doing the same. _The greatest captain of this so-called Red Knights and a determined and over confident kid are siblings!? Man I need to read the backstory of this game more once I get home._

"So that's how that kid joined up with us." Lowe's lengthy explanation and letter answering my question. After the breath of that last word left Lowe's mouth, Elsword finally stirred up.

"W…Where?" He whispered weakly, holding his head in pain.

"You're in the inn silly." The innkeeper sweetly smiled.

"Oh…Anne…" Elsword muttered. "What…you…talking…about?"

"Forget it Private." Lowe went back to his usual scornful behavior.

Elsword sat up straight away, much to the chagrin of his injuries. "Yes si- WHAT THE!?" He looked around frantically at Rena, then Aisha, then finally me. _I think he finally figured out we were here._ "WHAT ARE THESE BANDITS DOING HERE!?"

Just as I expected, Aisha's relieved expression changed to one of childish anger. "IS THAT HOW YOU TREAT THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU UP TO HEALTH!?" She exploded.

"I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP KID! GET LOST!"

"THAT'S IT HOW OLD ARE YOU ELSW-" I covered Aisha's mouth with one hand, using the other to gesture a 'please don't argue' sign.

Unfortunately that made Elsword madder than I've seen even in the game. He slowly lifted himself out of bed just like the rise of Darth Vader, probably an unintentional pop culture reference in the programmer's part, and had flaring eyes hot enough to make even a grown man (Hagus) flinch. After the worried Anne gave Elsword his sword back as he was getting up, he promptly used it to support his weight and stand straight next to Aisha.

"I'm…short…" Aisha nervously found out, tilting her head back a little to face Elsword. "B-BUT I'M SURE I'M OLDER!"

_What is this chick!?_ That's probably running through Elsword's dim-witted mind right now and sure enough, his confused expression concluded my assumptions. "I'm 13." He bluntly answered, as Aisha's eyes beamed.

"AHA! I'M TWO YEARS OLDER THAN YOU, YOU LITTLE TWERP!" Aisha proudly exclaimed, making a gesture similar to a generic rich girl laugh. "Maybe you should respect those older than you!"

"WHY SHOULD I RESPECT SOMEONE WHO'S ACTING LIKE SOME CHILD?"

"W-WHY YOU!"

"Hey c'mon guys can't we just talk this out?" I tried to calm these two down, already knowing they would just continue.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Both of them yelled at me. The expressions on their faces looked bad enough to pass for a devil, but nothing compared to Rena's anger.

I sighed and left the inn, content that at least Elsword was awake and the others are there to stop them if something goes wrong. _I shouldn't try to butt into these guys affairs. I mean it could mess up the whole game._ _Maybe…having these events happen to me could make me the main character of some alternate universe where another God set the rules._ These thoughts filled my head as I paced back and forth between the Inn and the Red Knights Camp in Ruben.

"Hey, you over there." I turned around. Lowe exited the inn and advanced towards me. "I heard about your situation from the elf woman, Rena. It's something about getting you a weapon right?"

_Damn it Rena!_ I cursed silently. _Do your elven friends spread a person's personal history to everyone around them!? _"Yeah actually. Honestly I never handled a weapon." I truthfully answered, scratching the back of my head. The surprised look on Lowe's face told me he never heard of anyone without combat experience, though meeting Hagus and Anne didn't seem to bother him.

"I-I see." It took him a while to get used to the fact. He cleared his throat and continued. "Come with me into the camp, you need a weapon to fend for yourself. Especially now, when the El got stolen by this big thief." Lowe walked towards the camp, motioning me to follow him.

_Oh well._ I thought. _Maybe I really can find a weapon to use._

The camp itself was built like a castle (a wooden one) with a unique emblem: a sword with the blade facing down and a staff and an arrow crossing it, similar to a skull and crossbones. _What the hell? I bet I'm gonna learn some pirate techniques here. _I walked inside the camp, finding it nothing like I had imagined.

For starters the people I saw whacking the wooden dummies with their swords? Nearly 90% of them all were men in their late teens, around the 18-20 range, and the scarce amount of women I managed to make out were in their mid-teens, around the 15-17 range. After Lowe reminded the men for what seemed the millionth time to stop flirting with the women, he led me to the training room.

I felt like being in a Dojang, or a Korean dojo. It had the same look as a dojo, though I could only tell by the countless Shonen anime I watched, except the emblem displayed out in front of the camp replaced the Korean flag. There were even more people in this training hall, having an even percentage of males and females at the aforementioned age groups I placed them in all wearing the red uniform sparring in martial arts. I was amazed at how downplayed background characters were compared to the Elgang, who all used weapons. At least half of the guys and a few of the girls could probably hold their own against Elsword judging on their Taekwondo skills.

"Well with someone of your…size, there's no way you can swing around a weapon and being an 'ordinary' human restricts you in magic." Lowe reasoned as we entered the Dojang. He was right actually as I found a mirror and took a look at myself.

I was standing about 6'0 judging from a student's comment about our height similarities and had straight black running and stopping at my shoulders and covered about half of my ears. My bangs are long enough to cover my forehead and barely floats above my right eye. I also remembered my thin structure with arms and legs both look unfitting to use a weapon for a lengthy period of time, but past experiences in PE at school taught me that they have more power than they appear. I wore a black long sleeved shirt, blue pants, and black shoes with matching socks on.

After looking at my perfectly proportioned body, I nodded in agreement to Lowe's statement. "So what you're saying is, you want me to train to be a Martial Artist?"

"Well normally I would've led you to the Dojang next door to train Kendo, the Way of the Sword." He said, knowing a lot of Korean terminology in a game set way before our modern time. The original Korean programmers of this game must study these types of things to include in the game, even if a voice clip didn't make it. "However thanks to Elsa leaving, there's been no one around to teach it to the students."

"So what about you? You seem to have a lot of influence on them based on what I saw when I first came here."

"No they only behave like that because they heard you coming. Those kids are always like that, wanting to show the pride of the Red Knights when foreign visitors come and switch back to being disrespectful, disobedient, and overall…NOT!" His tone got angrier and punched the mirror at that last word, cracking it. "Caring." He calmed down thankfully.

It was hilarious seeing the scared faces of the students, who all had comedic blank white eyes and anime-like blue lines on their foreheads as they stared with their lips quivering on the cracking of the mirror.

"So how about it? You do need some training after all." Lowe whispered in my ear while we slowly backed away from the students into a corner.

"I'll do it, but there might not be much time if I'm in this world for too long." I nervously complied. "What if I can't go back if I dwindle for more than I could afford?"

"Alright then, how about a week of training. If that doesn't work then train by yourself. You need some self-defense before going out there. Those bandits and demons are tough."

"Yeah I know. I accept." I agreed to go with his plan.

Lowe acknowledged and turned to face the students. There were about 50 of them, including myself. All had identical body traits such as myself, which could be the reason why they're here practicing taekwondo instead of kendo. Lowe had a smirk on his face and his eyes gleamed, a rarity from his personality in the game.

"Listen up fellow Knights. Mario here's gonna train for a week before leaving. During that time, you all better take care of him because if not…" He pointed to the shattered mirror, cue everyone shuddering in sync.

"Hi there nice to meet ya." One of the boys greeted me first.

"Hope you have a good time here!" This time it was a girl.

"If you need any advice I can help!"

They all swarmed on me like a bunch of bees wrestling for the smallest bit of honey. After the 10 minute disastrous introduction, Lowe pushed them aside and gave me a Red Knights uniform to wear. I thanked him for getting them away and proceeded to go to the nearest changing room, which happened to be across from the Dojang.

_So now I'm training to be a Martial Artist huh?_ I thought to myself, starting to strip off my shirt. _Elsword's sword, Aisha's magic, and Rena's bow could work in tandem with my taekwondo skills, assuming I actually master it in a week._ I start to unbutton and remove my pants and shoes. _Who knows, maybe this could turn out well for the future. Sure fighting that demon Berthe would be difficult with my BARE HANDS, but I could learn some techniques along the way. That's how the Elgang do their job changes._ At this point I started to put on my uniform. Red and gray pants with buttons, shoes with buttons, a red shirt with buttons, and an optional belt to wear with buttons as well. I almost forgot how amusing it is for the Red Knights to be so frantic with having buttoned clothes._ Did they think someone would strip them in the middle of a fight?_

I imagined scenarios with a female fighter facing a bandit or a demon in the middle of a forest. _Never mind, maybe having buttons is good after all. _I shuddered at the thought, because of the female's embarrassed reaction and the enemy's creepy smile. I finally fitted myself into the uniform and took a look at the unbroken mirror in the room. If I dyed my hair red and changed my 'do, I could resemble Elsword's nonexistent older brother. But never mind the thought, I better train now to at least make it to the next town over.

_Elsword, Aisha, Rena. If luck's on my side maybe I could travel with you guys. Well, here goes nothing. _I opened the sliding door into the entrance to the Dojang.


	4. Chapter 3-5: Tree of El

_Chapter 3.5: Tree of El_

_Author's Note: Until this point in the story everything was in Mario's POV (shocking isn't it). Starting this chapter the beginning of the page will state whose POV it is for the chapter, although it can change perspectives during the chapter._

* * *

**Elsword's POV**

What the hell are these bandits doing here? These are probably just decoys so those other two can get away. That strange looking guy who tried to stop us just up and left, served that coward right. I faced that purple loud girl again, nearly succumbing myself to this useless pain.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT HOW DARE YOU!" She raised that stupid wooden stick of hers trying to intimidate me. Heh she's not even a millimeter as scary as Sis.

"SO YOU WANT A FIGHT HUH!?" I raised my Great Sword ready for combat, flaring my eyes as she did to me. No way is this girl getting stronger than I am! I heard Anne's footsteps rushing towards us worryingly.

"Stop this!" She politely stopped. "Fighting never solves anything right Lowe?" Anne craned her neck right to our _brilliant_ captain Lowe for support. He responded nearly the same way as that guy from before, turning around towards the inn door and exiting without a change in expression.

I paid no heed to this and again faced that irritating girl again. "So what it'll be? Your stick? Or maybe your little balls in your face?" I half-smirked moving my eyes to the many options available to cut and show her I'm not as weak as she thinks. She flared up in a frenzy and started throwing back lame comebacks at me, specifying my hair and arms to burn and whack. Oh man is she predictable.

"He who strikes first wins!" I shouted right before charging towards her, keeping the sword to my right side as I rushed at her. She responded by gripping the stick with both hands and closing her eyes, is that really her defense? I removed my left hand on the grip and started dealing quick light slashes at that stick of hers she holds dearly.

*CLANG*

What the hell!? She managed to block my attack with that stick and locked us in a power struggle. What bothers me is how she's softly giggling to herself with her eyes still closed, I'll show her! I backed off by about four meters, thanks again Anne for the mansion-sized inn. _Hmph wait until she sees this! _I zigzagged across the wooden floor, making as much noise as possible, then rolled quietly and swiftly with my hands after reaching two feet's distance between us past her left side. As I landed crouched on my feet, I switched hands on my sword to the left and planned the same fate for her as I did for those bandits.

"MEGA SLA-" I stopped dead on my tracks, standing up straight with the grip still on my left. She wasn't standing there anymore, as if she disappeared. I quickly glanced over all possible directions. An elf lady at the right with a worried expression written on her face at us, up at the lone chandelier left untouched, left at the still unmade bed I got up from, and front after a 360 turn for the inn entrance with Anne glancing towards the area behind me. Wait behind me?

"Maybe you should respect those older than you little brat." The girl stood gleefully behind me like it's some kind of joke. "Guess I'll just have to beat some sense into you!" She gripped her stick in the same position as before, this time with her eyes open and eyebrows slanted downwards in anger.

Not this again. I jumped this time ten feet in the air, making sure she won't leave my sight as she looked skyward right back. Gripping the sword with both hands this time, I prepared a drop slash right at that stick of hers. Sis always told me never to kill unless necessary, this is definitely not the time. "Let's see you block this!" I smirked with victory in my grasp.

The girl jumped backwards to dodge my attack, there's about a meter's distance between us. I rushed towards her again and- wait is she smirking? What's that in her hand? Oh cr-

"CHAIN FIREBALL!" The girl shouted with the same enthusiasm as my Mega Slash while a ball of flame headed my way. I dodged it easily.

"Heh, maybe you shouldn't have wasted all that time for that." I taunted as the fireball I dodged vanished to thin air.

"Look again dummy." She pointed skywards, then I looked at the direction she pointed. _WTF!? _TWO fireballs were about one foot above me each and I couldn't escape. I felt my body temperature skyrocket to immeasurable heat as the flames made contact, burning me for about 3 seconds each.

I lay there on the ground in front of her, pitifully defeated as she stood with that mocking smile on her lips. "Maybe you'll think twice before going up against me again." She declared, offering a hand to help me up. I slapped the hand away, barking back to her I can take care of myself.

"That…was…nothing…" For some reason my clothes were kept intact without any signs of burn damage, but I disregarded that propping my sword up to stand. "If I didn't just wake up our situation would swap places." That got the reaction I wanted, she started to get angry again.

"Y-YOU WANT ANOTHER PIECE OF ME!?" She held up the stick again, intent on following through her words.

"BRING IT, I WON'T GO EASY THIS TIME!" I tried gripping the sword with both hands, shaking a bit while doing so. Suddenly I felt an ominous presence in the air and the ground shaking. The girl felt the same and had the same fearful reaction I did and turned right to face the epicenter of this danger, I did the same and turned left.

That worried elf lady lost all traces of compassion and, with a darkened face, erupted in a volcano of anger. "QUIT FIGHTING AND MAKE UP YOU LITTLE BRATS!" Her tone was the voice of Satan himself, and the sheer volume of her speech was enough to rattle the extremely still chandelier and left us quivering in fear. The girl and I dropped our weapons speechless at the sudden change in attitude in the lady. The lady must've realized this herself and calmly composed herself, briefly sulking in a corner murmuring something about "scaring the kids" and "re-introducing herself".

She dragged the two of us together in a circle and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Rena. I come from an Elven race living in this mortal world." She pointed at her pointed ears, showing proof and continued. "I came here to restore the El back to its original power instead of its weakening state now. That's why when I heard some bandits say they were planning to steal the El-"

My eyes widened at this opportunity. "BANDITS!? EL!" I planted my hands on her shoulders and shook her for answers. "WHERE! ARE! THEY!"

I suddenly felt a sharp pain between my legs as Rena kicked me there with that devilish expression. I doubled over in pain as Rena continued stating her mission in her calm expression, much to the laughter of the loud girl.

"…So now that big bandit has the El in his hideout or wherever it is. That's why Mario and I, at least, are going after them." Rena concluded.

"W-Who?" I heard my voice crack as I asked who this Mario guy is. The pain still isn't going away thanks to that really hard kick.

"He was the guy who tried to stop you two from fighting then left outside without saying a word afterwards." Rena described to the two of us. Go figure, I thought. So _that_ strange guy was the one Rena was talking about.

"W-Wait a big bandit stole the El?" Anne finally appeared after hiding in the kitchen during the short battle. "What does this person look like?"

"Let's see…" Rena pondered in thought, closed eyes looking upwards. "He was this tall," She stood on her toes and reached to someone about two or three times her size, "about this wide," Her arms moved as if she's catching a fish even bigger than Hagus, "and had a scar replacing his right eye." She pointed to her closed eye.

"Oh I heard rumors about him." Anne cupped her left hand and placed her closed right on top of it. "His name is Banthus and from what I heard, he set up his hideout near the Tree of El."

I finally recovered from the kick and understood the situation. "So this Banthus guy set up camp near that really big tree?"

"That's right." Rena and Anne agreed in unison.

I smirked. "Well then I guess I better take it back!" I grabbed my fallen sword and rushed out of the inn towards the forest where I saw those two bandits and that demon, despite the pleading of Anne saying my "wounds aren't healed yet". _Well just you wait Banthus, I'll show you no one messes with the Red Knights!_ I thought proudly, entering the dense forest.

* * *

**Aisha's POV**

I smacked my head with my open palm, who knew there was someone in the world this stupidly dangerous? If I didn't lose my powers to that stupid ring and had more spells than casting mere fireballs, that kid wouldn't have been so lucky with those minor bruises.

"Oh no," The really nice innkeeper Anne was starting to worry about him, "his wounds aren't fully healed yet."

"Meaning?" I already knew the answer but asked anyway, only idiots would charge into battle 'fighting' like heroes in that condition.

"I heard Banthus is an infamous bandit in these parts, able to take on even 10 of our Red Knights at once!" Big deal, those trainees I saw going here were only whacking dummies. "We need the assistance of an officer to deal with him!"

"An officer?" I pondered. "But that Lowe guy was the only authority in that group I've seen."

"Yes but he hasn't come back yet, and Elsword doesn't know the danger facing a bandit that skilled."

"Don't worry, we'll help." Rena chimed in, holding my hand. "This girl has fine magical abilities and I have my bow, we can help Elsword from afar." She reassured Anne.

"What!?" I was shocked at this. "B-But there's no way I'm helping a brat like hi-" Rena stared into my soul with a death glare, forcing me to change my mind. "On second thought, I'll be happy to help!" I put on a deceiving fake smile for Anne.

"Great! The Tree of El should be that way." She led us outside the inn and pointed to the same trees we just came from. One tree stood out in particular even at this distance, one growing at such height and was faintly glittering. "Here, you two might need this!"

Anne motioned us to open our hands and gave something to us. She gave us 5 red potions, explaining to us that they restore our health in battle, and a brown backpack to store our stuff, calling it an Adventure Bag. We thanked her for the gifts and put the potions inside the backpack, giving it to Rena to hold.

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to find Elsword!" Rena promised Anne while I already gone ahead to the forest.

There was a lack of…anything in the forest. No bugs, no wild Phorus, not even any guard bandits. Rena and I moved through the trees slowly holding our weapons for any signs of hostile life. That's when we heard swords clashing and hurriedly ran to that location.

* * *

**Elsword's POV**

_Even with the lot of them they're still no match for me!_ I easily battered the five bandits until they couldn't move using only the sword on my right arm. They lay there bleeding and begging for mercy but I left them, focusing instead at what stood before me.

_My wounds aren't fully healed yet, but I still felt as great as ever. _I thought looking up at the gigantic Tree of El. _Now where the hell is that big bandit Rena talked about?_ I scouted around the base of the tree, uncertain even someone as big as Rena described could scale the tree's hard branches. That's when I noticed something strange when I went to the back of the tree, an upside-down U shaped hole acting as a passageway. It had jagged marks all around the edges, obviously man-made using a sharp object.

Readying my grip on both hands, I walked into the cave.


	5. Chapter 4: The First Day

**Me: YES FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE!**

**Elsword: Psh yeah right, you were just too lazy**

**Me: *sits in corner, shunned***

**Elsword: HA I FREAKING KNEW IT *victory pose***

**All but me and Elsword: *looks at each other* *nods* *death glares at Elsword***

**Elsword: ...what?**

**Aisha: PLASMA CUTTER!**

**Rena: PHOENIX STRIKE!**

**Raven: HYPERSONIC STAB!**

**Eve: HEAVENS FIST!**

**Chung: SHOOTING STAR!**

**Ara: *Rapid spear strikes***

**Elsword: O_O NONONONONONON- *gets hit by all attacks and faints***

**Me: I feel much better :D**

**Aisha: Don't listen to that Elbaka, take as much time as you need :D**

**Me: :D**

**Chung: So how's my spy story coming along :D**

**Me: ...girls and Raven**

**Elgirls and Raven: Yes?**

**Me: Take aim and fire**

**Chung: WHAT NO I DIDN'T MEAN- *faints***

**Me: Yay now shut up and enjoy the chapter**

_Chapter 4: The First Day_

* * *

**Mario's POV**

The room greeted me with all the students lined up side by side with their backs straight and feet together all facing towards Lowe, who in turn faced towards them with a serious face. I scratched my head at this. _What the heck am I supposed to do? _

Lowe noticed my return and sharply turned to my direction, all of the other students followed suit. _…Please stop staring. Please._ I got nervous and sweated a bit from all the eyes blankly glaring at me as I whispered to one of them near me, a girl with long brunette hair in a ponytail, what I'm supposed to be doing.

"You have to get into position or else-" The girl answered me in a robotic tone before getting interrupted by Lowe.

"Student #50, why aren't you in position?" Oh great he actually sounds like a drill sergeant, complete with the stance used for 'Attention' and an angry stern tone. All he needs is a whistle and he fits the image nicely.

"W-Well Lowe I was g-gonna-" The nervousness I felt still didn't fade away, Lowe addressing me like that and the other students aren't helping my condition.

"Address me as Mr. Lowe from now on."

"O-Ok Mr. Lowe, well I honestly have no idea what to d-"

"You get into position like everyone else." He pointed to a back corner of the room, the corner I'm nearest to. I turned my head left and found an empty spot at the back of the line closest to it.

_I assume this is my 'position'_. I walked behind the line of students and copied their stance. _Feet brought together with heels touching, toes apart 45 degrees while pointing forward. Stand tall and proud with your back straight facing your instructor._ There was nothing for me to learn about the stance, glancing at the stances of others and a motivational poster behind me gave me all the information I need.

"Before we can begin, I need to see Student #50 for a second." That gave the students more time to stare at me. _Damn, and they all stopped just when I got my position right._

Afraid he might call me out again and bear more attention, I walked in a fashion one would call 'robotic' as Lowe bored disapproving eyes into mine. "Yes Mr. Lowe?"

He responded by smacking my head with a closed fist. "Bow and try again." Lowe firmly told me. I held my aching head for a while, hearing the snickers of some of the students, and heeded his advice.

I bowed with my hands by my side. "Yes Mr. Lowe?"

"You were late getting into position. Run 50 laps around the building and come back, only then will we start the lesson."

I cringed hearing this. _50 laps!? This building looks huge!_ "But Mr. Lowe, wouldn't that take quite a while?" I tried reasoning with him.

"What was that?" His closed fist shook angrily.

I guess there's no arguing with him. "Fine then." I complied with his demands. It was then I noticed a sliding door leading outside the building. I exited through the door, stretched my arms and legs a bit, and started jogging.

The running was no problem, I got used to it all the time at home and moving around quite a bit in here, until I got into the 22nd lap…then the 31st…and finally the 50th. Heck by the time I got back inside, panting like a mad man, Lowe actually kept his word and the students were STILL in that stance with the same damn expression.

_How *pant* can they keep *pant* that up for the entire *pant* time?_ Granted I'm not the fastest runner in my class, but it took a solid 30-40 minutes at most to finish all the laps. The girls gossiped to each other and looked at me with shriveled noses and some of the guys smirked and laughed a bit. I gave them annoyed looks and looked at Lowe, who seemed amused and pleased at the same time.

"Well, now we can finally begin." I would've complained here, but Lowe's face told me he's done this routine before.

He told us to remove our shoes and place them on the side, away from the huge mat spread all over the entire room, and called students #1 and #2 over to him. As I removed my shoes, I took a good look at the two students he called over.

Both of the students were guys. The one who diligently walked to Lowe first (probably #1) looked the oldest than any other student in the room complete with a broad stature (at least compared to everyone else) and grizzly-like facial hair and the other one who followed suit (#2 I assume) is about the same height as #1, but is clean-shaven and had blond hair in contrast to #1's black haired counterpart. Those two look around 20 years old in comparison to the 18 and 19 aged guys, primarily 16 and 17 aged girls, and me at 16.

"These two will help me perform the lesson to you all. Don't get distracted just because two of you simply are not there." Lowe explained.

It turned out most of these lessons involved stretching then applying basic punches and kicks I felt like I'm in one of those home exercise videos and copying their moves. The stretching and basic attacks I had no problem with as I usually do them in Gym during warm-ups, and watching Lowe acting all drill sergeant on us reminds me of my own teacher.

_Great, something from home I don't want to imagine._ I thought wistfully, practicing my side, front, and back kicks in that order following the rest of the class. I find it amusing, glancing left, as the guys in the back were more focused staring at the girl in front of them and making perverted faces than training. Fortunately for them, Lowe didn't take notice nor did the two guys with them (although they look like frilly little ballerinas practicing those kicks like that). After some alternate punches, Lowe told us we're at the last lesson for today, Sparring.

"Alright now since we have a new student today. Will you two spar one on one for everyone to watch, maybe they can take notes based on your performance." Lowe advised #1 and #2, who obeyed his order. The rest of us and Lowe sat by the side of the huge mat, careful to not open the door outside, and watched as the two went near the center of the mat. They stood facing each other, bowing first, and assumed fighting stances.

#1 turned to the side and spread his legs with the right leg forward and hands closed up to his head while #2 did the same. The girl next to me, the same one I asked for advice at the beginning of class, told me to remember that stance as it was the universal fighting stance. I could practically feel the tension of the other classmates beside me and from the two combatants. It seemed as though those two are pretty strong rivals or something.

"Begin!" Lowe called the start of the sparring match.

The two were at a standstill, maintaining that pose for what seemed like hours. Until, at last, #1 (screw this I'm calling him Grizzly) leapt towards #2 (calling this one Gold) with a left straight punch. Gold dodged to the side and brought his front leg up at Grizzly's face, sending him backwards. Grizzly reacted in time and caught the mat beneath him with his hands and back flipped to gain some distance. It was Gold's turn to take the offensive, he swayed side to side to keep his movements random and fired an array of punches and kicks that looked similar to breakdancing, complete with a helicopter-like kick barrage and everything. Grizzly dodged them all and caught Gold's leg, flipping him onto the mat.

All we could do as sideliners is sit back, mouths gaping and eyes in disbelief, as the two duke it out Dragon Ball style. They still moved at humanly reasonable speeds but their reflexes seem unparalleled to each other, like a complete balance of Yin and Yang in the world. Grizzly fought with a practical and standard fighting style enhanced with his speed while Gold counters with a completely unorthodox style reminding me of that one show I watched.

_What was that show again? Oh forget it, how's Lowe reacting to all this? _He acted pleased, if a little amused by the smirk he's showing. _Damn is he the master, acting all confident and stuff. How did these guys seriously get shoved to the background so quickly?_

"Calculations show that Mr. Tiger is fighting at 70% max power, 50% agility, and 100% cockiness." I felt somewhat alarmed as the girl next to me whispered in a robotic tone to herself (she looks pretty cute up close with the ponytail and everything). "Mr. Dragon is fighting at 60% max power, 80% agility, and also 100% cockiness. Analysis complete, now downloading." She closed her eyes and remained motionless, probably not noticing I heard her.

Not that I want her to think I'm a stalker or anything, but what the hell was that thought just now? That drove my attention away from the fight and onto the girl. Up close her face looks perfectly proportioned on that snow white skin of hers. She reminds me of someone else, but I can't…grasp…the idea.

_Mr. Tiger? Mr. Dragon? Why is she suddenly more formal and why refer to them as animal metaphors of the Yin Yang? Why do I get the feeling she isn't like the rest of us? Actually why does she suddenly start talking, or rather in a monologue, longer than a deadpan one liner? _ The thoughts slowly formed in my head as her eyes remained closed. Good thing everyone else was too busy focusing on the fight, because us two sat near the front and I didn't hear any calling of "What the hell are you doing man?" or "Stop staring at her you pervert!".

The fight reached its conclusion in a draw, right as the girl next to me opened her eyes. Both "Mr. Tiger" (the unorthodox Gold) and "Mr. Dragon" (the orthodox Grizzly) lay on the mat exhausted, ending the match. All the students and Lowe applauded them for the fight, praising them for their abilities while the smart kids (all wearing glasses) gave them tips in order to improve.

I didn't pay attention to any of that, instead focusing still on the strange girl. She reminds me of another character in Elsword named Eve, the Queen of the Nasods. All that pinpoint calculating going through her head with a whispered deadpan voice.

After promising to spend the next day sparring due to today's class being cut short, Lowe dismisses the class to do whatever in the camp. _Weird._ I thought. _Why end class now? The moon just came up. _My fellow classmates just shrugged it off and started chatting about the stolen El Crystal.

"Did you hear of the group of bandits that were here earlier today?" I overheard a group of two, a boy and a girl, talking to each other as I stretched.

"Yeah, I heard they stole the El in the early morning when we were all still asleep." The girl replied. Now that I remember, it was sunrise when I first got here. That explains my slight drowsiness when I first got into this world.

"Damn thieves!" The boy slammed his fist on the ground in anguish. "If we were awake half of us could've taken those guys."

"Yeah but I heard from the other gossip floating around that the little runt, Elsword was it? He chased after the thieves and came back moderately bruised after a wind-splitting screech."

The boy's eyes widened amusingly at this. "Serves that kid right. The little sibling of the great Elsa can't even handle two measly thieves." I was about to tune out of their conversation, but the girl said something in urgency to the boy.

"Well the Elsword kid found out there was another thief involved, a really big guy named Banthus. He went after the thieves into the Tree of El with a purple girl holding a wooden staff and a green elf lady holding a bow."

_Aisha!? Rena!? Why did Elsword try to stop Banthus in his condition? More importantly how did the girls convince him to help him out? _I raised an eyebrow forming these thoughts together. As long as the three can handle Banthus it's none of my business.

The girl concluded their conversation by revealing she had sources of gossip, mainly those guys out front whacking dummies. I shrugged at the events that happened the past minute and faced back to the mysterious girl.

She was already looking back at me. I swear not the slightest bit of emotion popped up in her face, only quizzically turning her head in curiosity as I backed off a bit and felt some redness.

"Jeez just warn someone the next time you do that." I sighed, calming myself down.

"I do not understand?" There goes her monotone voice again. "I was simply staring into your face, are humans so flabbergasted about personal space?"

"No it's just that- wait what do you mean?"

"I was only staring into your face before you stared at mine, what any other intentions could I have?"

_Yeah… _"So what's your name anyway? I'm Mario." I introduced myself, trying to start this conversation from scratch.

"That is none of your concern right now." She replied.

"Well do you have a name you want me to call you? Calling you "You" all the time is just going to be confusing." I asked.

She closed her eyes deep in thought. Why didn't she simply tell her name? The way our conversation was going, she would've been just fine bluntly telling the answer.

Suddenly the outside door got kicked down…right on top of me and the girl (mostly me though, thanks to her ducking without feeling the need to warn me). The impact gave me a bit of a headache, but didn't slow me down as I crawled from under the door and into the eyes of my classmates. All but the girl (typical) were either in shock or in a fighting stance determined to fight. The girl simply pointed behind me with an almost mocking "Ahh.", making me turn around.

I got greeted by what seemed like 50 thieves outside crowding the little training area. I looked back again and counted our numbers, only half of the class, 25, were in the room. Lowe, Tiger, and Dragon all took off somewhere, probably the reason why class was cut short, and the rest of the class were in their dorms sleeping.

I **really** didn't like our odds here. Is this some sick joke the world put me in, to let someone who barely had any fighting experience whatsoever suddenly band together with people he hardly knows against greater numbers? The boy whose conversation I heard dashed to the thieves first.

"Protect Ruben!" He shouted at all of us, prompting the class one by one to join in in accordance to the thieves preparing to fight. Suddenly we had a brawl in here, only the girl and I didn't join in yet.

I dashed to her side facing the outdoors trying my best to (hopefully) fight and protect her. I can tell this may not end well.

* * *

**Raven: So who's the girl?**

**Me: *turns away* I'm not telling you**

**Aisha: *death stare* You better not replace me**

**Me: Well-**

**Aisha: AGING!**

**Me: SONOFA- *turns old* not...this...again *naps***

**Eve: *brings cups of tea* Tea anyone**

**Everyone but Eve, me, Elsword, and Chung: ME!**

**Me: why...*snore*...me...**

**Leave a review if you want, constructive criticism advised if you do :D**


	6. Chapter 5: Inside the Tree of El

**Me: FINALLY UPDATED THIS STORY!**

**Mario: Bout damn time. These people wanna see my actions Fire not the others.**

**Elsword/Aisha/Chung: HEY!**

**Me: Now now, it took some time to actually write this chapter. **

**Mario: You started a few days ago didn't you?**

**Me: Yep! You're actually gonna look more like a badass now!**

**Mario: YES FINALLY! WHAT DO I DO!?**

**Me: Read the chapter idiot and find out.**

* * *

_Chapter 5: Inside the Tree of El_

**Mario's POV**

_Why why WHY did I get myself mixed into this?! _In case you got lost about my current situation, some bandit army came and raided the training camp I'm currently in. Now not only do we have to fight them off with half their numbers, but I could tell by almost all of the students' clumsy fighting styles (myself included) that we're pretty much screwed. I would've been fine fighting just one bandit instead of two who both slashed at me with daggers, all the while taking hits for this robotic girl who stood motionless.

I bled from a few cuts stinging my arms and chest as I tried my best dodging their quick stabs and slammed one of them right in the face, knocking them down immediately. _Wait…when did I become this strong? _I thought confused as the guy I punched down was suddenly bleeding from my one punch. Being in this universe with the magical El might've enhanced my strength somehow, but how exactly is it working? Never mind that I still need to take care of this other bandit. Actually being smart, I picked up the faintly bloody dagger (it's so light…) and parried the bandit's attack.

_Heh. Now we're even you rogue! _We traded slashes left and right, me jumping to avoid a low slash and using a low sweep on him as I landed, tripping him. I pointed the dagger straight to his exposed throat threatening to cut it as he pitifully begged for mercy.

"P-P-Please spare me!" He cried out.

"Not a chance bud." I twirled the dagger's grip a full 360 and, with two hands, prepared a downward strike straight to his windpipe.

"W-Wait! L-Lord Banthus would n-not be pleased if that g-girl of yours is left h-hanging!"

I don't know if he was bluffing or not, but there's no way a small bandit would know this kind of info. I didn't want to risk any chances though so I copied Elsword, grazing his throat a little with the dagger. "What the hell do you mean!?" My voice carried anguish and aggression, this is probably the first time in my life I felt truly angry.

"O-Over t-ther- GACK!" He slowly glanced his head right before coughing from blood loss, accidentally jerking his neck straight at my blade. It was horrible. Blood spewed everywhere from the wound as his eyes turned into dull nothingness, a fearful expression forever planted on his face. I didn't have time think about the psychological trauma of committing homicide against a person (mainly because 1. This is a video game and 2. I've seen much gorier stuff in the things I watch), instead heeding his last words by looking to my left. I saw the girl getting flung over the shoulder by one of the bulkier bandits as he walked towards the forest so no one would've noticed.

"Damn, gotta save her!" I left the dagger in the corpse and scrambled up to two feet, before promptly getting whacked in the back by one of two more bandits. I flinched and lamented on a cheap shot that was and swung a surprise back swing as I turned to face them. BAM, right in the face! These bandits, one with hair and one without (Hairy and Baldy?!), looked angrier than some of the others already currently fighting (if you actually care, the people left are 20 to 15 in favor of the bandits) having bulky builds, though not as much as the one who's about to get his butt whooped once I rescue the girl from him, and held beefy cavemen-like clubs. The hairy one swung his slowly but with great force, yet I dodged it quite easily…until the bald one intercepted my dodge with a whack to the head. As I cradled my head from the impact, the two took this chance to freaking clobber me.

_BAM! WHACK! SMACK!_ All sorts of hit sounds rushed into my mind whilst being barraged by these two brutes. If I had a health bar, I'd be down to 20% right around now. I tumbled across the grass with bruises all over as the two were about to deal a finishing blow right on me. Thankfully at the last second (hooray for main character status!) the two students whose conversations I overheard kicked the bandits' clubs, sending the force to smack their heads and knock them out. The boy helped me up while the girl gave me a red drink, which I identified as a health potion in the game. I drank it and suddenly felt much better, not 100% but clearly better than how I struggled to hold the bottle.

"T-Thanks for that." I thanked the two and remembered the girl's capture. "Can you two do me a favor? I need you and the others to stop these guys while I go rescue the one who got kidnapped." They both looked surprised.

"W-What? Who got captured?" The boy got confused.

"She's the quiet girl in class with the brown ponytail. The one I mostly talked to during class?" Oh no. I can see where this is headed.

The two had amusing looks on their faces. "So our little Page here wants to rescue his girlfriend huh?" The two teased me, back smacking some incoming bandits while I did the same.

I blushed slightly at this. "N-No I barely even know her! We just need to rescue her from the enemy that's all!" I calmed down soon after. "I heard from one of them that they're taking her to Banthus."

"Oh him." The boy got more serious. "He's inside the base of the Tree of El, that really huge tree over there." He pointed to the tree, which I already knew.

"Are you sure you can handle him by yourself?"

"Yeah. Didn't this Elsword kid and others go into his hideout first? Maybe they already beat him." I tried to sound more optimistic.

"Maybe- wait!" Oh no the girl found me out. "Did you spy on us earlier this evening!?" The boy glared at me.

"Y-Yes…"

The two merely sighed. "Well at least you know some good intelligence." The girl concluded. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

"Yeah I'll be fine!" I thanked them for their help and started to dash for the forest.

"Hold up! Take this!" The boy tossed me a backpack filled with 5 health potions (which I had to slam a bandit trying to intercept it using my right arm). "You might need it."

"Thanks! Good luck you guys." I put on the weightless pack and ran straight towards the Tree of El.

_Great, now I have to do a Big Damn Heroes moment. _Luckily there was a trail of dead bandits leading the way straight to the tree (probably that rash Elsword), what I didn't expect was this gaping hole found at the base of it. It sure as hell didn't look natural, Banthus and the girl are probably hiding in here.

I sat on a nearby rock as to recollect my thoughts. _Am I really doing this? I mean I see this done all the time in today's media, hell I'm used to it while playing Super Mario. But…am I ready to actually save the girl and some possible captives? _I pulled my legs up to my chest and buried my head within it, a distant look on my eyes. _Why the hell am I even trying anyway? I'm just a regular introverted 16 year old boy with a normal social life and no battle experience whatsoever. The only reason I got lucky with the bandits from before was that my fighting instincts just clicked. _I glanced at my hands with curiosity then upwards at the starlit sky. _It felt like…a key unlocking some of my potential. Sorry about the cliché term but it's true._

*sigh* I stood up and wiped my hands on my pants. Luckily my Red Knights uniform remained intact thanks to the game's programming. _I'm starting to miss my friends from the other side, we would usually go around the mall and play some video games, the usual stuff. Oh god what'll my family think!? _I clenched my fist in renewed determination. _That fight taught me something. I need to unlock the secrets of how much control I can really do inside this game and exploit it. To beat the heck out of Berthe and get back to my dimension! Enough of this rejuvenating pick up crap, time to save the girl whether she likes it or not!_

I picked up a stick and walked inside the man-made cave of El.

**Aisha's POV**

That stupid red-headed brat! I glared at him from within the cage we got trapped in. Thanks to this idiot, all three of us were trapped because he felt like yelling across the inside and get pulverized by the big thief there. If he just waited patiently we could've captured him, not the other way around!

_*sigh* How did we get mixed up in this? And why is this girl here? _A bulky bandit barged in recently carrying a girl around my age with brown hair tied into a ponytail and took her to that huge brute Banthus. I couldn't hear them because they were so far away but I clearly remember that Elbaka here had a slight redness on his face when she arrived. I smacked him for some strange reason, quickly coming up with the old pervert routine. I sat on the concrete floor of the cage and used my fire magic to play tic tac toe.

_Five hours ago _

"_Rena should we follow him?" I asked hiding behind some bushes. Elsword just went inside this Tree of El where the so-called thief Banthus is hiding. I charged up my lost mana fighting that brat and got all fired up and ready to go._

"_I think we should…um…"_

"_It's Aisha. I never told you did I." I slapped myself at this. How could I forget to introduce myself to a polite lady like Rena? _

"_Right Aisha here's the plan. While Elsword in there distracts Banthus, we show up in his blind spot and take him down from far away!" She sparkled green doing a winning pose._

"…_That's it?" I had to question this. "No complicated plans? No stealth take downs? Nothing? Just…Just take him down with our weapons?" _

"_Yeah that's about it. After all he is a close ranged fighter, at least that's what I think Anne described to us before leaving." I slapped myself for the third time today. Not only did she come up with a simplistic plan so easily, but it's also pretty effective! I mean what could possibly go wrong? We sprouted out of our hiding bush and quietly dashed inside the Tree of El._

_Well this is…unexpected. Rena and I took a step back with astonished looks on our faces. The dark blue cave walls and floor shined too clean for a natural environment, there were some suspended platforms in the air from more of the cave floor, and a silver chair in the back with a treasure heap so big to fit three freaking air ships! There appeared to be someone rising up from the aforementioned chair, luckily he couldn't see us from that far away (Well it's like 50 meters between us and we can't really see him either). What we CAN see, however, is a slightly bigger red dot that's rapidly closing the distance between him and the guy on the chair. Luckily there were some columns supporting the ceiling to the right, Rena and I hid in there following the two little dots on the hard cave floor until the two dots finally came into clear view._

_Oh no. You have to be kidding me. The red dot turned out to be that brat Elsword, still not recovered from his injuries, pointing his sword threateningly at the other dot, a brute who fits Rena's description of Banthus. _

"_BANTHUS!" Elsword shouted. "RETURN THE EL OR I'LL GIVE YOU HELL TO PAY!"_

"_HAHAHAHA!" The boisterous bandit belted out. "Me give the El to a kid like you? You got that all wrong kid." He pulled out a sword with the scabbard still on it, about one twice the size of Elsword's. "Now run home to that pathetic little village before you get hurt."_

_Crap that made Elsword flare up in a red aura of frenzy! Wait...does he actually have a red aura around him? I rubbed my eyes and stared at him again, the red aura was still there. Oh god his aura just oozes darkness with a devilish expression worse than Rena's. We both trembled as he dashed towards Banthus and began to duel._

_I was too busy focusing on Elsword's demonic fighting style to figure out who's winning (Rena told me that they're even). He fought as if that big nasty demon, Berthe, possessed him as a puppet and attacking mere pawns. I don't think I'll ever make fun of that idiot again._

"_B-BOSS!" A tiny dot came from the entrance of the tree, making the two combatants turn their heads. Banthus, however, saw his chance and swung his sword to send Elsword flying._

…_Over here…where Rena and I sat. "NONONO-" That's all I screamed before the red kid toppled over us, earning Banthus the right to pick all three of us up like a couple of dumbbells._

"_L-Let me go!" I squirmed around his beefy hand (which for some reason only carried me, while his other carried both Elsword and Rena) but to no avail._

"_B-BOSS WE FOUND THE GIRL!" Some brute, probably the guy from the entrance, came in with a girl slugged over his shoulder. For some reason she didn't put up any resistance and stayed there looking all bored. What's with her?_

"_Heh, I know I could count on you knuckleheads once in a while." He jerked his head to the side to two cages. The two bandits nodded and headed toward the cages. Oh no._

"_D-Damn cheater!" Elsword burst into the red aura again, causing Banthus to flinch and release me from his grasp. Good thing I had my staff on me. _

"_CHAIN FIREBA-"_

"_NO AISHA YOU BAKA!" Rena screamed before I could finish chanting. Oh right…Rena and Elsword are still on Banthus. _

"_That was a rather brave move for a tiny girl like you." Banthus teased, figuring out my situation. "Get in the cage before no one gets hurt now." He place his sword at Rena's throat._

"_Damn you! We will get the El back!" Elsword spat out before tossing the three of us into this one huge cage. _

_We then sat here in this cage for quite some time as those stupid bandits were discussing something about the girl with Banthus (ok what do they see in her anyway)._

Present

_*sigh* another game won._ I stopped writing on the floor when Rena tapped me on the shoulder. "Huh…what?" I yawned.

"Quiet I hear someone coming." She woke up Elsword from his little nap (he deserved it from ditching the inn) and pointed towards the cave entrance. Indeed someone actually came into the cave but…

This isn't a bandit.

The cages were positioned atop suspended platforms in the cave near the entrance (how stupid is this Banthus guy, we could just escape right now if I had my staff), suddenly noisy as we caught a glimpse of the mysterious boy walking in.

He's in the same get up as Elsword, a Red Knights veteran maybe? I mean he's older than Elsword. The medium length black hair and lean figure…and a stick!? Wait a minute this guy looks familiar but also kind of different. He looks determined and stared straight at the girl by Banthus, does he like her? The boy advances towards the two bandits and girl by the treasure heap with his…sword unsheathed.

"So you're Banthus huh?" He taunted. "I suggest you let go of her and give back the El."

"What are you doing here?" The three of us and the boy acted surprised, the girl looked confused as to why he came here. "I can handle these simple-minded humans myself."

"A smart ass are ya?" The unnamed bandit smirked at her, raising his club. "Looks like I'll have to teach ya a less-"

"SONIC BOOM!" What the hell? The boy used his open hands to slash the air sideways to form a shockwave homing towards the bandit.

"GAH!" The bandit fell from the attack.

The boy looked shocked and quickly inspected his hands for some sign of magic or something, smirking afterwards. He turned back to Banthus. "Better step down now or end up like that guy."

However Banthus still smiled at him. "I've seen Phorus more intimidating than you buddy." He unsheathed his sword. "What's your name anyway?"

"Me? Just call me Mario." Oh now I remember him! The same guy who ran out of breath carrying a boy standing to Banthus with a blank determined expression?

"I think it's about time you give the people of Ruben their El shard back." He challenges Banthus while slowly going towards the fallen bandit, taking his sword and throwing the stick away.

Banthus laughed. "It'll be my pleasure, Mario." He shoved the girl aside on his chair and the two guys started the fight.

* * *

**Mario: So...I did an air slice and acted all cocky?**

**Me: Pretty much.**

**Mario: *strangles* DAMN YOU I WANT A BETTER CHARACTER MOMENT!**

**Eve: Mario would you like Moby and Remy to attack you too :3?**

**Mario: O_O *drops Fire* NO THANKS EVE!**

**Eve: Too late 3! Drones after him!**

**Mario: NONONONONO! *chased by Eve and drones***

**Me: *cough* *cough* Great I didn't even do my important announcement.**

**Chung: What announcement?**

**Me: Well since school kept me busy for the past two weeks, I'm putting my Espionage story on hiatus for now. **

**Chung: D: *Awakening* CHANGE IT NOW!**

**Rena: *slowly hugs Chung* Just let it go okay :D!**

**Me: ...Um yeah. I'm not that good handling my time as good as the other ElAuthors and their stories but I'll work on Chung's story around April 15th or so (if any of you like the story). Rather have new updates on fewer stories than none at all due to many stories!**

**Mario: OW! DAMMIT EVE!**

**Eve: Hehe :3**


	7. Chapter 6: Mysterious Girl

**Me: STORY FINALLY UPDATED!**

**Mario: So how's the fight.**

**Me: Interesting, I know you'll love it.**

**Mario: :D**

**Raven: That still doesn't answer my question.**

**Me: ?**

**Raven: Who's the girl Fire?**

**Aisha: *gleaming dark eyes***

**Me: *sigh* I'll try to make her just a friend. I PROMISE!  
**

**Aisha: :D!**

**Eve: Chapter 6, start.**

* * *

_Chapter 6: Mysterious Girl_

**Mario's POV**

If only the Benny Hill theme played at this moment. Banthus and I traded slash after slash during this whole ordeal, and this little sword (in comparison to Banthus' huge freaking one) is starting to wear out from the power struggles, fencing, and unorthodox swordplay I placed it in. I cut through his chest and left a mark, he responded by grazing my left shoulder, forcing it to bleed out. Damn, this sword's too heavy for one hand...

I tossed the sword aside and raised my fists up, shaking them from the weight of the weapon. _Now this is much better! _Compared to my speed now Banthus is just a snail. I'm not Sonic fast, but more than enough to dodge literally every attack and retaliate with punches and kicks. A jumping right hook at his face, a low leg sweep to knock him off balance, and another "SONIC BOOM!" right at his lumbering body. I side stepped past him towards the back and swept the girl off her feet...

...At least that's what I thought.

***SMACK***

I lay on the ground trying to soften the pain on my cheek. The girl slapped me as I tried to pick her up (she's quite light for her age) and loomed over me with a pissed off expression. I gulped.

"How dare you try and lift me human!" Her voice echoed throughout the cave. Meanwhile Banthus stood there confused.

"I was trying to save you idiot!" I reasoned with her grudgingly. "Who knows what that brute could do-"

"I." She brought me up back on my feet. "Can handle myself!" Banthus seized the opportunity and charged right at us.

"Dammit. Watch out!" I prepared another Sonic Boom until she pointed her open palm at him trying to jump slash us.

"ICICLE SPEAR!" I felt as if time slowed down as the girl commanded her attack, like a special move. About a hundred icicles shot out of her hand and pelted the bandit, drilling him with holes all over which he bled from. Banthus dropped his sword and with a chattering grunt plummeted to the ground with a large thud, blood surrounding his body.

I shuddered at this. _I'll never argue with women again..._ The girl stared at me. "What?"

"Since when did-" "you just-" I tried my best to form my words together but this is just...amazing.

"I have always been able to do this." She inspected her hand then glanced right back at me. "Ever since I first came to this world through my mother's womb. This blue substance, what you humans call 'Ice', is such a power that I wield daily." Her eyes lowered for a bit. "Mother always yelled at me not to play with it in the house until we got separated."

"How did you two get separated?" Suddenly her eyes shot up as if she just noticed I was here.

Her brief moment of interest dulled out into a blank expression. "You do not need to know that right now." She pointed at...something. I had to move my head out of the way so she didn't accidentally poke me and flare up again. "We need to release the three travelers from their cages." I stared at her with a quizzical look and turned around.

_...So now we know what happened._ Elsword, Aisha, and Rena are all inside the same cage atop some platforms. The two of us did some platforming and reached the cage, me finding with a tug that it's made out of something hard (steel maybe?).

"If only I had my staff with me here..." Aisha complained after we couldn't tug away the bars.

"YOU! What about my sword!" Elsword sneered at her.

"Look my bow's gone too you two." ...Oh no. I covered the ice girl's eyes for what's about to come. "STOP COMPLAINING!" That demonic face of hers...I will never forget it.

I put my hand down from the girl's eyes and contemplated on how to get them out. Unfortunately for me, the girl didn't wait and I felt the air around me feel colder for some reason.

"ICE SCREAM!" What? Did the girl want some ice cream? I turned around to tell her there's no ice cream. A huge ice ball on a solid cone greeted me as the girl effortlessly wielded the cone and swung across the cage's bars.

"WHAT THE-" Was all I said before quickly jumping away at the last second.

***CRASH***

The force was enough to split the bars evenly in half in such a radius that the trio had to scoot all the way to the back to avoid getting metal splinters. The broken pieces all littered to the cave floor below us clanging in sync like rain drops. The three Elgang members walked out of the cage then we all took a step back from the girl.

"What?" The girl tilted her head in confusion (I wonder how many times we have to do this routine).

I took up some courage and walked up to her. "Can you just...warn us next time you commit something so reckless?"

The girl smiled for the first time and nodded. "Understood...master."

I blushed at that. "WAIT WH-"

***SMACK***

Right back to her old self...with another slap to the face. "Don't misinterpret me. If I can catch you off guard, then I most certainly can with this goofball." She pointed right back at Banthus.

"So what the hell do we do with him?" Elsword, who along with the other Elgang jumped down to search for their weapons, asked.

"I have no idea." I answered him, thankfully after they all retrieved their weapons from the unnamed bandit. The girl and I jumped down to meet them and we all circled the still downed but breathing Banthus.

"I will handle this." She pointed her open palm at him and...oh no. "ICICLE SPE-"

"NO!" I had to grab hold of her arm and raise it to avoid her giving Banthus another Hail of ice, too bad she already initiated the attack and hit the ceiling. The icicles caused it to rumble a bit and-

Wait is the ceiling getting closer? It only took us about 5 seconds to know we had to get the hell out of here, and the exit just happens to be on the other side (perfect, just freaking perfect).

"Hold on to me guys!" Aisha chimed in. "I can probably teleport us outta here!"

"Are you sure that's even going to work!?" Rena questioned her logic.

"I'd rather just sprint out." Elsword put his two cents in.

"Ok Ok!" Of course I gotta play Straight Man here. "Let's just go with Aisha's idea and see how it takes us. Agreed?" I learned long ago to never doubt video game logic. Everyone nodded.

"Good, now just hold on tight." The four of us held onto her shoulders and closed our eyes. Aisha gathered some mana and yelled straight towards the air, "TELEPORT!"

* * *

Suddenly I felt as if I sprinted through a long distance in a short time without actually going anywhere. The air feels crispier and more natural now than before. _So did we make it?_ I opened my eyes and glanced skyward to witness the night sky of Ruben Forest (that's what I'm calling it ok). I sighed a breath of relief. _Looks like we did make it after all. _Aisha seemed exhausted after transporting all of us out of that cave. That reminds me, is the cave still there? I glanced towards the Tree of El, standing tall and proud.

The base, however, left no hole to be found. Only stone rubble of the ceiling closed it off now, I can only imagine what happened for those two stuck in there as they got crushed.

"Why are you caring a storage device designated for traveling Mario?" The girl pointed behind me.

_Oh right...the potions._ I set the backpack down and felt a sting, instantly grabbing it. _Damn the cut. So it laid low until acting up now._ I flipped open the pouch containing the five hp potions and passed them around. "I got this before we left. Some of our classmates got this for us, um..."

"Call me whatever you like. Mother never gave me a consistent name to call with, its always one today and the next tomorrow." Again the girl seemed upset about her mom. We all drank the potions (the girl did because it tastes good for some reason) and all felt refreshed. Only then did I get back to her statement.

"Let's see..." I thought up a name for her. _How about- no that that. Maybe...no she'd slap me whenever I talk to her. She might like- wait I regret it. What about something that fits her personality? A cold robotic person who can get angry at times? So I'm dealing with a total tsundere here. Oh god this one's generic, but I gotta try anyway._

"How about Crystal?" I came up with a name. "Y'know, since you appear cold to strangers but only friends can find the beauty within you." _Man I'm so getting slapped._

"Crystal..." She thought. "It sounds...natural. Mother never came up with a name quite like that. I like it." Crystal decided.

"Sure...Crystal." I nervously answered back. This is going to take a while to get used to. "We need to get back to Ruben, it's under attack by bandits and-"

"WHAT!" Elsword exploded. "Why didn't you say so idiot?! Come on we have to get there fast!" The five of us rushed through the forest hoping the students fended off the bandits successfully. If not, we're always backup (not to mention the backlash I'll get for running away).

Well that's certainly a close call. Remember the 15 students I explained earlier along with the 20 bandits that were left standing? Yeah all of them managed to fend off the bandits while we were gone and noticed us. Most looked at me funny, an angry kind of funny, while some seemed surprised (and for the boys, blushing) about the arrival of the Elsword trio. The two who I conversed with earlier came up to me with wide eyes.

"So you actually managed to save her?" The two asked in sync.

I scratched the back of my head. "Well I only found out where she went, we all came back in one piece."

"Psh, yeah. This chick here," Elsword pointed at Crystal, "is the one that defeated that joke Banthus."

Aisha gleamed. "Oh ho ho! You mean the same joke who got you on a surprise attack?"

Elsword got furious. "Hey shut up! How am I supposed to know that other guy wouldn't come and-"

"Enough Elsword." Someone with a familiar voice called out from inside the Dojang. Lowe stepped out with that grin of his and paced towards us. He took one glance at the two girls behind Elsword and chuckled. "So it seems you gained two girls to fall in love with you Elboy?" He teased.

Elsword got angry and blushed. "Yeah well screw you too Captain." Everyone including the students laughed at this, even more if you count the fact that Aisha also blushed.

Lowe calmed down. "So, what happened to that Banthus character?"

I answered that question. "Well his hideout in the base of the El Tree? It collapsed."

Everyone had shocked expressions on their faces. "What!?" Lowe, who seemed the least shocked about the news, said. "What about the Tree?"

"Don't worry," I reassured, "The Tree is still up and growing Lowe. Only the hideout has piles of rubble on top of it. But...Banthus was still inside when it collapsed."

"Well," Lowe raised an eyebrow, "At least he doesn't have to bother anyone now."

"Yeah, damn bandit." Elsword cussed.

"Say..." One of the students asked Lowe. "Captain. Why did you leave earlier with those other two?"

Lowe darted his eyes for a second and glanced right back at the boy. "Oh you don't need to worry. We only filed a report that Elsword was missing. I almost submitted it until I heard all the ruckus outside. So has my lessons taught you about attacking these bandits?" They all glanced at the downed bodies.

"Sure did Captain!" Another one answered, this time a girl. "We all handled them right away...even though we didn't use the proper techniques. This boy here left in the middle of it to rescue that girl over there." Oh no...she pointed to me and Crystal.

"So you did Mario? Why did you do it then?"

"Well Lowe-" He smacked me in the head.

"Stop calling me that and say Captain."

"Well Captain..." I rubbed my aching head. "I couldn't just let them take her. I mean she is one of us here in the Red Knights-"

"Wait what the hell?" Elsword interrupted. "When did you join the Red Knights?"

"Since I needed to find a way back home." I digressed from the topic thanks to the red headed idiot and got back to my point, turning back to Lowe. "Plus she's a girl going into a hideout of male bandits so who knows what might have happ-"

***SMACK***

I'm getting sick of this slap routine with Crystal now. "THE POINT IS!" I yelled this time. "She's a friend and friends don't leave each other."

"Ok I accept your response, Page Mario." He nodded (for a second there I thought he said paper). "With all this happening, class is canceled for a week for repairs."

Everyone agreed and we all headed back inside the camp. This grand table with about 100 or so chairs greeted us in this freakishly long dining hall. You can hear all the chatter as we all sat and ate our food. But that's not important right now. I stood up from my chair and headed outside claiming to be full from my dinner as everyone else is still devouring theirs.

* * *

Lowe rested on a nearby chair in front of the camp. He noticed me and beckoned me over. "Sorry about the no class for a week. Guess now you can't really train now Mario?"

I sighed. "No Lowe not really. However I experienced something strange."

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well you could say I can manipulate some sort of magical power in this world, perhaps the El, and summon some skills to aid me in battle." I placed my arms in an X-crossed position to demonstrate a Sonic Boom to him.

"SONIC BOOM!" I quickly moved my arms away from each other to form a faintly visible slice of air decapitating a poor wooden dummy in it's way.

"I see. I think you need to get to the next village now instead of a week." Lowe advised. "It's always best to start training sooner rather than later."

"Alright Lowe." I said, thinking in my head the name of the next town. "What that be Elder Village?"

"Yes. The town isn't very far from here, maybe half a day's journey at most. Tomorrow you can head over there to discover a way back to your own place."

"Thanks, but I'm not traveling alone." I blurted out, hoping it to be the truth later.

"Why not?"

"Well that quiet brown haired girl in the ponytail? She wants me to call her Crystal and may need something in her past corrected." I reasoned. "I think its best if she also came with me to find some answers."

"Ok then. But what about Elsword and those two other girls?"

"I don't know. If I'm lucky, the five of us can travel together."

"Yes I remember when I used to travel with others." He closed his eyes and chuckled. "Penensio and I always argued with each other about who loved Noah more. Right now Pen's in Hamel and Noah's in Velder. If you ever travel to those places, give them a shout out for me."

"Sure I guess Lowe." I yawned, walking back indoors trying to find a bed. Thankfully Crystal, who seems more acquainted with this place way more than I am, offered to lead me to a bedroom (again with the robotic tone of hers). She lead me to one on the second floor: a room with a bed, a table with an unlit candle on top, a closet, some windows, and a chair. I thanked her and plopped right onto the soft bed.

_Good news is I found some a way back home with that demon's proposal earlier morning. Bad news is this is gonna be a long journey to get back to... _I yawned, cowering underneath the blankets. _Well this might not be so bad. I'll just ask the others if they want to go along with me back home. I'm certain Crystal will say yes, but the original trio I'm cautious about. I mean, it's gonna be freaking awesome to go venturing with the Elgang, but at the same time I highly doubt they would accept._

_Oh well, the Journey is the Destination right? _I didn't even bother to light the candle while I lay there on the bed. I closed my eyes and slept through the night.

* * *

**Raven: Ah, so her name's Crystal now Fire?**

**Me: ...I get it haha. Fire and Ice. ZIP IT!**

**Mario: ...I'm the one who's gonna be with her.**

**Crystal: Hello you homo sapiens. Mario's my betch now.**

**Mario: Wait...WHAT.**

**Me: Mhm, Crystal's gonna be an OC now folks! (Oh god now I have to update my profile with her.)**

**Mario: Oh no D:!**

**Crystal: Oh yes!**

**Eve: *high fives* We need more of your kind with us Crystal.**

**Me: Yep here's Chapter 6. Long wait huh xD. Leave a review for any comments so I can help improve my writing, this story, and my other stories (current or future).**


	8. Chapter 7: Party Formation

**Me: One month and I finally updated this story. Sorry if my writing seems rusty here than the previous chapters, guess 50 days of not writing about one story can get to you like this XD!**

**Mario: Tch, bout damn time too.**

**Crystal: What happens here?**

**Me: Basically the party forms, that's really it. I just needed to fill something in before you two finally reach Elder in Chapter 8.**

**Mario: Whatever. Anyway Chapter 7, START!**

* * *

_Chapter 7: Party Formation_

**Mario's POV**

A flash of light disturbed my otherwise peaceful slumber. I stretched and surveyed my surroundings to remind myself of where I am. _Damn, so this isn't a dream after all._ I tossed aside the red bed sheets and swiftly gazed at myself at the mirror by the table.

I'm still wearing my Red Knights uniform and my hair looked as if someone shocked me with a lightning bolt (though knowing the tsundere magician's secret desires for revenge after the tree incident, its no stretch of the imagination). For some reason I didn't smell at all.

"I guess being trapped in this virtual world comes with its advantages." I mumbled to myself, smiling a bit and exited the bedroom. A delicious aroma filled the air as my stomach growled in response. _Looks like someone's cooking breakfast. _I utilized my gut feeling (literally) to make out where the smell is coming from.

As the scent grows stronger I can hear the sizzling of pans, utensils clattering plates, and idle chatter straight ahead. Sheesh it looks like everyone woke up earlier than I did (not my fault I'm not a morning person). The grand dining table became packed with carnivorous wolves disguised as people, the food all spread out across the middle. I found a seat near some familiar faces.

I sat down between Crystal and Elsword, with Aisha and Rena seated in front of us. "Good...morning." I greeted softly, yawning after just waking up.

"Good morning!" Rena greeted as the two knuckleheads devoured their food and Crystal too busy poking her food. _Man it seems you're the only one in a good mood today Rena? _I noticed that the cheery elf was the only one putting a smile on her face, everyone else's bummed out that training got canceled and instead ate their troubles away.

My stomach grumbled and reminded me of my hunger. Curse these pancakes, bacon, and eggs piled onto my plate! I gave in and quickly dug into my food. As I tore off my delicious maple pancakes, I felt a poke on my shoulder and turned to Crystal. "W-Whap?" I asked with my mouth full.

"So where do you think you're going next Mario?" She asked in the usual monotone, her brown hair down. "Ruben's El is safe in the Tree of El thanks to our efforts."

I flinched at her words, gulping down the food in my mouth. "W-What!? Ruben's El is safe?"

"Ever pay attention to the news dummy?" Elsword eavesdropped. "If that stupid bandit didn't go anyway from inside the Tree of El, then the El didn't go anywhere!" He resumed stabbing his sausages.

Aisha glinted her eyes. "Who knew the little brat actually pays attention to the news? I always thought you couldn't handle big words."

The swordsman dropped his utensils. "Just so you know, I aced the written exam getting into the Red Knights, and they're way harder than whatever mumbo jumbo you mutter to yourself about."

_Goddammit they're at it again... _I sighed as I returned to my attention to Crystal. "Anyway it's really safe?"

"Yes, why Mario?"

I stared at my food deep in thought. _W-Wait...if Ruben's El was never stolen, then those three..._ I stared at Rena trying to "calm down" Elsword and Aisha by going into rage mode. _...Never would've gone through the entire trouble of retrieving it at Altera Core. I wonder...would it be better to just travel with Crystal and fight Berthe that way? Speaking of the blue demon, I couldn't help but wonder about the Altar of Dedication. It should be in that next town over at the game, Velder. If that's the case, then it takes place after..._ my head clicked and I unexpectedly jumped from my seat (getting stares mainly from the El-trio and Crystal).

_Raven's rampage and Eve's awakening!_ I finally remembered, being one who actually read through the story dialogue as I did the quests. _Without Rena to snap Raven back to reality and Elsword to accept Eve, maybe the game could change for real once I get back!_ I clenched my fist in determination (which the others saw as some stupid fantasy I must be dreaming of). _Who freaking cares that I'm acting like a total cliché shonen hero, it might be all my fault if I don't bring those two to light during this quest! Man I can hear the Elsword dev team now, "Mysterious Characters missing! Cause unknown!" _I finally snapped out of my train of thought by a bonk on the head by Crystal.

"Idiot." She gave an excuse. "Don't just stand up like that."

Rubbing my head, I sat back down. "S-Sorry." Being the idiot I am, I finally remembered what I was going to ask her from the night before. "Oh Crystal!"

"What is it?" She crossed her arms seated and patiently tapped her finger.

"W-Well..." I started to form my words together, finally coming up with the right ones a few seconds later. "Do you...want to travel with me...so I can get back to my own dimension?" She raised an eyebrow (and so did the three Elgang).

She sighed and nodded. "Very well, I see you would need a guide in order to traverse through this world safely." I brightened up and bowed my thanks.

"But wait!" I just remembered. "You said you stayed here in Ruben your whole life."

"Did I?" She tilted her head.

"I believe so." Hopefully my memory served correctly. "Having a guide who's as clueless as the tourist isn't the smartest idea is it?" I smirked as she (only in my eyes) pouted.

"Oh I know!" Suddenly Rena butted in, still grabbing Elsword and Aisha at their collars from yelling at them. "Why don't we show you around!" She glanced at the two, who both sweatdropped at the idea. "There's so much to see and maybe we could help you two train!"

"WHAT!?" The two kids yelled, prompting everyone to look right at us (oh god all the staring). With a quick mind, Crystal immediately pushed the rest of us outside so we can talk in peace. Once outside, I realized the Sun had barely risen from the hills beyond what would be Elder (those early morning knuckleheads).

* * *

"WHY SHOULD WE HELP THEM, LET ALONE TRAVEL TOGETHER?!" Elsword and Aisha yelled outside at Rena, Crystal and I standing side by side with me only sweatdropping at the comment. I sensed something amiss however and noticed Rena acting...twitchy. _Oh god not again! _I quickly shielded Crystal's eyes to avoid the look of "Devil" Rena as I liked to call it.

"Why?" Despite not raising her voice, Devil Rena sounded creepier than plain shouting. "Because helping people...is a nice thing to do!" After her little statement she went back to normal. Once again she sobbed herself in the emo corner while the two kids stood petrified, then dashed up to us two (Elsword to me and Aisha to Crystal).

"S-Sure w-we'll help you t-two!" The two quickly spouted.

"Great that settles it!" Rena recovered surprisingly quickly and hugged the four of us. "Looks like we're all traveling together."

"...Yay!" We all fake cheered, Crystal performing a slow clap.

"I see you managed to recruit them after all Mario?" I jumped as the sudden loud voice from behind randomly questioned me. Recognizing the voice, I turned around and shook hands with the voicebox's owner.

"Oh Lowe!" I greeted, then glanced back at my current five-man party. "I guess I did!" I scratched the back of my head while Elsword scoffed.

"So while we're gone Captain," Elsword asked Lowe, "What's going to happen to the Red Knights?"

"Heh, I'm called the Captain for a reason though!" Lowe brought his fist to his chest. "I'm sure I'll do as good of a job as Elsa- oh." He stopped when he noticed Elsword facing the ground in nostalgia. I almost forgot, Elsa was his older sister and the original Captain of the Red Knights before she...disappeared. What surprised all of us is Elsword's eyes brightening up when he faced Lowe again.

"I'll find her eventually!" Elsword did the same with his chest. "And when I do, I'll show her how strong I've really become!"

I took this once in a blue moon opportunity of his happiness to agree with Elsword and become his friend. "Hell yeah you will!" I nodded. "We'll all help you along the way and vice versa."

"Yes yes enough with the stupid cheering routine you two idiots." Crystal coldly ruined our moment. "We need to get going to the next town, Elder." She started walking towards the destination. The rest of us followed her, bidding bye to Lowe.

"Good luck on getting back home Mario!" Lowe wished me luck. "And Elsword, don't you or Mario try anything funny with any of those three girls!" Thanks to his comment, Aisha, Rena, AND Crystal start dashing away from us as we blushed and chased the girls to assure them otherwise.

"Y-YOU BAKA YOU BETTER NOT DO ANYTHING TO ME!" Aisha, like us guys, blushed really heavily when she noticed that Elsword chased her specifically.

"LOOKS LIKE WE'LL KNOW EACH OTHER IN MORE THAN ONE WAY LITTLE SWORDSMAN!" Rena ran alongside Aisha and laughed after teasing the poor kid.

"S-SHUT UP HE DIDN'T MEAN THAT!" Elsword retorted at the two El-girls and kept on running (didn't help that his gargantuan sword is slowing him down). I on the other hand actually managed to catch up to Crystal thanks to my natural litheness (thank you Mile runs in Gym class).

"Y-You...know he didn't mean that...right?" I stuttered a bit as I reassured Crystal (who, by the way, looks like she's taking her sweet time cruising while I'm sprinting for my life) that we're just friends.

"Understood, now hurry up if you want to get to Elder Mario." Unfortunately for me, I can only watch in comical horror to find Crystal speeding up (as well as the other three) as we raced to Elder in the morning sun.

I reached my hand out to them while running even faster myself. "WAIT FOR ME DAMMIT!" I called out to them. Oh man I'd love to see anyone's reactions to find five teenagers (Well...Rena's an elf so...) sprinting for their lives to head to the next town so early in the morning. You'd think we were finishing up a morning job with a race to the finish if you were there right?

_Geez first day of a new journey and we're already rushing. _I kept to myself and smirked, catching up with the rest of my party and ran to Elder together.

* * *

**Berthe's POV**

"So that scaredy cat actually brought along some friends with him after all." I, the omnipotent wolf demon Berthe, gazed upon Wise Dutor's crystal ball in the Altar of Dedication to inform the rest of us about their current condition. Why gaze at the supposed heroes of their quest and why inform the others here at my place? As I've told Dutor I was 1. bored with nothing else to do and 2. felt like I should bring friends to a festival.

"Yes I see." Wise Dutor slowly made the vision within the crystal ball on his staff fade away. "Why didn't you just kill those kids right there? Especially those two guys, you said that they-" He started to question me, but I interrupted instead.

"Yes they can use the El to their advantages so what?" I fired an Ice Beam across the corridor, freezing a free roaming Gargoyle in the process. "All of us beings literally can." I reminded my friend, who always boasts at himself for being the smartest one of the group (think again buster) about the El. "It's the driving force of life here in Elrios, so anyone can do it. What's so special about them if everyone is super?"

"He's got a good point knucklehead." Assaulter Crash practiced his hammer swings for when the "heroes" come knocking in. "All of us can do anything with the El anyway, it's just how we use it."

"But sir what about Wa-"

"No buts Dutor!" I put him in his place (for the 3rd time this week). "Only I can address situations from here. Anything that lunatic scientist who goes on and on about Nasods is rubbish anyway, there's none even around today!"

"What about the El sir?" Proxy overheard us with his sharp demon ears and asked, shooting down Gargoyle targets in mid-air as well. "If what you said is true, can't he use it as well?"

I sighed again and reminded everyone. "Look, what he does isn't any of our business. In fact if those kids can't handle him they sure as hell can't handle us." I reasoned fiercely. "Now come on!" I changed the subject and forced Dutor to conjure up a pin tail. "Let's play 'Pin the Tail on the Gargoyle!'"

"YAY!" Thanks to my quick wits Dutor, Crash, and Proxy all lined up behind me as I put on a blind fold.

"I hate this game..." I heard some poor Gargoyle utter so I decided to get to him first.

*POINK!* "YEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!" I removed the aforementioned blindfold and noticed a smoke trail leading up...and up...

...and away out the ceiling of the castle as the poor creature skyrocketed out of here. I shrugged while the others clapped, there's more Gargoyles to pin anyway.

And so, we spent the whole night playing the game. If those kids defected to us we could just spend our time like this. _Now what was I supposed to be doing again?_

_...Eh I'll figure it out later._ I thought to myself, watching Crash attempting (for the fifth time) to pin the tail on one of the airborne creatures with failed results.

* * *

**Mario: ...REALLY?! YOU'RE MAKING THE DEMONS COMIC RELIEF?!**

**Me: XD nope, just put those guys up so you'll wonder what they do on their spare time.**

**Crystal: So Ruben's El is safe, how will the party venture through Elder and beyond without the urgency to retrieve it?**

**Me: ...I'll think of something. *writes note down so remembers* Anyway I got an announcement coming up soon. Look out for it in the next story I'm updating, Red Stained (good grief 35 reviews O_O). Oh yeah one more thing, I got a poll up asking which OC class I should use for this story for both Mario and Crystal so vote on that if you wish.**


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